"A large
medieval/wizard style castle textured in
blue and brown bricks. An abundance of custom
monsters from SOA, the Snakeman, Axeman
and some tougher Quake baddies."
Here we have a very large medieval map,
done up in a mix of ikblue and standard
id textures. To go along with it is a very
good story, i suggest you read it, even
though it has no bearing on the level itself.
This is one of the many maps that Kona has
released this year, but is it any good?
Architectually, this map is solid, but
not great. There are a few nice looking
blue stone outdoor areas, but mostly it's
blue and brown brick blocks. I didn't think
anything fit with ikblue, but this map proves
me wrong, as the brown and blue actually
are functional. For looks, it's okay, many
angles abound give it some visual appeal,
but it's plain for the most part, with no
standout setpieces. But that can be somewhat
excused, since this map is absolutely huge.
But all of the areas kinda do look the same...
No matter where you are in the map, everything
is close together, so even if the texturing
makes the whole level look similar, you
will find what you are looking for. You
have to find two keys to exit this map,
as well as various buttons, and do a lot
of running around, nothing revolutionary,
but it works fine.
Well, how about gameplay. My comments about
the rest of the map have not exactly been
glowing, but gameplay is fantastic, with
138 monsters on hard. It's very exciting,
as you are almost constantly fighting, as
teleporting monsters are very prominent.
But if you have any doubts at all about
your skills, don't play on hard. Ammo is
always there, but health is on the short
side. Shamblers are in huge supply, around
10, and sometimes attacking in pairs. But
as well as the normal enemies, Kona added
in some custom ones.
Here goes:
a knight with a new completely grey skin
and 50% more health, pretty good.
Axeman - looks similar to above, but has
an axe, runs really fast and is about as
tough as a deathknight. Pretty good.
a reskinned ogre that shoots nails really
fast, and is very hard. Nice for a change
of pace.
pretty
crappy, looks like a cartoon, and shoots
nails. Yawn.
From
the Scourge of Armagon mission pack comes
this scorpion, that shoots nail and stings
with it's tail. Good monster.
Slightly
reskinned death knight that shoots vore
balls, and has a lot of health. Somewhat
easy, but still very good.
These monsters are all used great, and
add a lot to this level. The ending is great,
each time you think it's over more monsters
appear, great stuff. I finished it with
2% health. Skill setting are in effect.
I recommend you get this map, with such
great gameplay and new monsters, it's a
must have.
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